Top officials of the IOC’s Imphal Divisional Retail Sales Office have already initiated due procedures to stock and reserve the fuel that would be required for the election, sources informed.
IOC’s Imphal Chief Divisional Retail Sales Manager cum State Level Coordinator Sinam Ibungoton told The Sangai Express that they have started stocking fuel at the new depot located at Malom.
At the moment, 1590 Kls of diesel and 576 Kls of petrol have been stocked at the Malom depot. These stocks can meet the State’s diesel requirement for six days and petrol requirement for four days. Fuel were transported to the State only on five days in November last year and four days in December.
Earlier when there was movement of trucks along Imphal-Dimapur highway, loaded TTs and bullet tankers were brought to Imphal by security escorts five days in a week. The existing problem of fuel shortage can be effectively resolved if there is movement of convoys of oil tankers for 15 days in a month along Imphal-Jiribam highway, Ibungoton added.
However, many quarters are apprehensive that the State may face acute shortage of fuel needed for the Assembly election on account of the UNC’s more than three months old economic blockade which came into force from midnight of October 31 last year.
Source: The Sangai Express